using Anthony's Cure #1

[JG1971]

Hello
first post, just joined the brethren a few months back. I was curious what you guys/girls do for adding cure and how you measure it out.

On the Anthony bag of cure #1 it says 1tsp for every 5lbs but if I am looking to cure 19.45 lbs of meat would you do 3.5tsp ? don't want to put too much for obvious reasons but also know if you put too little its also pointless

I welcome and comments

THANK YOU

also love the threads on here :clap2:

 

[PitRow]

Volume is such an inaccurate way to measure it, especially with smaller volumes. Do they offer any weight based instructions? X grams for Y lbs?


Beyond that, those instructions work out to 1/5th of a tsp for 1 lb of meat. So 19.45 lbs * .2 tsp/lb = 3.89 tsp I would probably round that to a scant 4 tsp.

 

[JG1971]

they also say 1oz for every 25lbs is the only two measurements they give and completely agree on volume to measure

 

[thirdeye]

Welcome aboard. Adding to PitRow's comments, not only is Cure #1 hard to measure with traditional measuring spoons, the accuracy of measuring spoons themselves can vary wildly from brand to brand.

That said, it is recommended that Cure #1 be weighed for accuracy. Cure #1 can be calculated in two ways, the percentage method is 0.25% of the meat weight when dry curing, and 0.25% of the meat + water weight when brine curing or combination curing*.

If you are not comfortable with working in percentages, Cure #1 can be weighed at 1.13 grams per pound of meat (whole muscle or ground), or 1.13 grams per pound of meat + water weight when brine curing or combination curing.

*Combination curing is a wet curing method where you mix your solution based on meat + water weight, then inject roughly 10% of the solution into the meat. Next, add the remaining solution to your bag or bucket to cover the meat. Now, you are curing from the inside out, and outside in.

Accuracy of Cure #1, and using recommended salt and sugar percentages allows for an equilibrium cure, which means you can't over-cure something like bacon if you exceed 7 or 8 days of curing time. I often use 12 to 14 days of curing time.

 

[JG1971]

Thank you @thirdeye super helpful.

 

[cowgirl]

Welcome to the forum!